Research: Bad eating habits continue into adulthood

Disordered eating habits and extreme weight control behavior during adolescence can be counterproductive to weight management in the future.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

July 3, 2011 11:48

3 minute read.

scale weight 521.
(photo credit: Courtesy)

Adolescents who diet
and develop disordered eating behaviors (unhealthy and extreme weight
control behaviors and binge eating) carry these unhealthy practices into
young adulthood and beyond, according to a study conducted by
University of Minnesota researchers and published in the July 2011 issue
of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

"The
findings from the current study argue for early and ongoing efforts
aimed at the prevention, early identification, and treatment of
disordered eating behaviors in young people," commented lead
investigator. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, PhD, MPH, RD, Professor, Division
of Epidemiology & Community Health, School of Public Health,
University of Minnesota. "Within clinical practices, dietitians and
other health care providers should be asking about the use of these
behaviors prior to adolescence, throughout adolescence, and into young
adulthood. Given the growing concern about obesity, it is important to
let young people know that dieting and disordered eating behaviors can
be counterproductive to weight management. Young people concerned about
their weight should be provided with support for healthful eating and
physical activity behaviors that can be implemented on a long-term
basis, and should be steered away from the use of unhealthy weight
control practices."

Using data from Project EAT-III (Eating and
Activity in Teens and Young Adults), a 10-year longitudinal study aimed
at examining eating, activity, and weight-related variables among young
people, investigators from the Division of Epidemiology & Community
Health, School of Public Health and the Department of Pediatrics,
University of Minnesota, examined the records for 1,030 young men and
1,257 young women. One third of participants (29.9%) were in early
adolescence (mean age = 12.8 years) at the beginning of the study and
were in early young adulthood (mean age = 23.2 years) at the 10-year
follow-up. Two thirds of participants (70.1%) were in middle adolescence
(mean age = 15.9 years) at the beginning and were in middle young
adulthood (mean age = 26.2 years) after 10 years.

Subjects were
asked about dieting, extreme weight control behaviors such as fasting,
using food substitutes and skipping meals, and binge eating with loss of
control. Additional socioeconomic, gender, age, and race/ethnicity data
was also collected.

About half of the females reported dieting in
the past year compared to about a fourth of the males. The prevalence of
dieting remained fairly constant from adolescence through young
adulthood for females in both age groups. Among males, the prevalence of
dieting stayed constant over time in the younger age cohort, but
significantly increased in the older cohort as they progressed from
middle adolescence to middle young adulthood (21.9% to 27.9%). In the
younger females, unhealthy weight control behaviors remained constant
from early adolescence to early young adulthood.

Among older females,
unhealthy weight control behaviors showed a statistically significant
decrease from middle adolescence to middle young adulthood, but still
remained very high (60.7% to 54.4%). Approximately one-third of males
reported unhealthy weight control behaviors, and the prevalence remained
fairly constant over the study period in both age cohorts.

For
extreme weight control behaviors, significant increases from adolescence
to young adulthood were found in females for both age cohorts and for
the older cohort of males. Among females, the use of extreme weight
control behaviors increased from 8.4% to 20.4% between early adolescence
and early young adulthood and from 12.6% to 20.6% between middle
adolescence and middle young adulthood. For the older males, extreme
weight control behaviors increased from 2.1% in middle adolescence to
7.3% in middle young adulthood.

These behaviors tended to track
within individuals and, in general, participants who engaged in dieting
and disordered eating behaviors during adolescence were at increased
risk for these behaviors 10 years later. Tracking was particularly
consistent for the older females and males transitioning from middle
adolescence to middle young adulthood. The tracking of these potentially
harmful behaviors suggests that their use is not just "a phase" that
adolescents go through, but instead indicates that early use of dieting
and disordered eating behaviors may set the stage for continued use of
these behaviors later on.

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